Did Fort Bend teacher dump class for Bachelor?

In love, timing is everything, right?Some say Fort Bend teacher's was off when she left class to pursue Bachelor

ERIC HANSON, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Published 5:30 am, Friday, April 20, 2007

Photo: ADAM LARKEY, ABC

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Fort Bend ISD teacher Amber Alchalabi, with The Bachelor Andy Baldwin, told parents she was taking leave for a "personal issue." Some are angry that it was for the reality TV show.

Fort Bend ISD teacher Amber Alchalabi, with TheBachelor Andy Baldwin, told parents she was taking leave for a "personal issue." Some are angry that it was for the reality TV show.

Photo: ADAM LARKEY, ABC

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Amber Alchalabi is "surprised" by parents' reaction.

Amber Alchalabi is "surprised" by parents' reaction.

Photo: BOB D'AMICO, ABC

Did Fort Bend teacher dump class for Bachelor?

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SUGAR LAND — When fourth-grade teacher Amber Alchalabi explained earlier this year that she would be absent for a week or more, students and parents wondered what would keep her away from the classroom that long.

Now they can see for themselves, Monday nights on KTRK (Channel 13).

The "personal issue" Alchalabi cited in a letter sent to student homes turned out to be a reality series that features romantic dinners, limousine getaways and bikini-clad trips to the hot tub — all captured for network television, as the 23-year-old was chosen as one of 25 women to vie for the affections of a young man on the ABC program The Bachelor.

Alchalabi's star turn kept her out for 22 school days — 10 of them unpaid — and prompted complaints from at least two parents who said appearing on reality TV was not an acceptable excuse and that they were misled about why she would be out.

School officials said the main complaint they heard was about having a substitute in her Colony Bend Elementary School classroom for an extended period.

"That is a legitimate concern," said Fort Bend Independent School District spokeswoman Mary Ann Simpson, who said Alchalabi's principal was aware that she was taping episodes for the program but that others were not because of a confidentiality agreement.

Simpson said school officials are looking into the matter.

Alchalabi declined to be interviewed, but she did respond to written questions from the Houston Chronicle. She explained by e-mail that an experienced substitute teacher took over for her while she was away from class for a few weeks.

"She taught at the school last year and knows the teachers and students very well," Alchalabi wrote. "We thoroughly went over the lesson plans to ensure the students would receive their full education."

She said she went on the show to find love, not to become a reality-TV personality.

"I am surprised and saddened that my personal life and pursuit of a long-term relationship would upset my community," she said.

In a letter dated Jan. 22, Alchalabi told parents she would probably not be at school for a Feb. 8 meeting because of a "personal issue" and would be away for a week or more.

She was gone for a month, taping episodes of The Bachelor, which chronicles Andy Baldwin's pursuit of love. The show is now airing; at the end of each episode, Baldwin, a U.S. Navy doctor, presents a red rose to the women he has chosen to remain on the show.

When the third episode ended Monday, the Sugar Land resident was one of nine still in the running.

Some parental concerns

Parent Lesley White complained in a letter to Fort Bend ISD that the program "does not promote family values, moral values or appreciation of the normal 'dating' process."

"What she does in her own time is fine," White said of the local contestant. "But what she does on our time is not fine."

White also was upset that, after Alchalabi's return, a Bachelor camera crew showed up in her classroom. School officials insisted the taping was not disruptive and that any child who was taped had to have a release signed by parents.

White said that while her husband was reading the two-page legal document, he noticed the taping was for The Bachelor.

"At that point I called the principal and said my son is not to be anywhere near that, thank you very much," she said.

Parent Raquel Flores said it "was very disruptive" to have Alchalabi gone while her students were preparing to take a TAKS test.

But another parent, Colleen McKeever, said Alchalabi's absence did not cause any academic problems for her daughter. She argued that more harm is being done by making the issue public. "I feel like if someone had a problem with it they should have gone straight to the (school) district," she said.

Alchalabi says she loves her job.

"I cherish my position at Colony Bend Elementary School, holding it with the utmost degree of professionalism and integrity," she wrote the Chronicle. "I apologize if my participation in The Bachelor created any issues or upset for the parents or my students, all of whom I adore."